Dover 400 Race Review

Dover International Speedway -- 09/21/08

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Monday Sep 22 2008 10:11pm

Sometimes, in reviewing a particular race, it's more interesting to start with what didn't happen than what did.

One thing that didn't happen at Dover on Sunday is that Kyle Busch did not recover from his poor start in the Chase.

After winning eight Cup races during the regular season and 19 races across NASCAR's top three series this year, Busch started the Chase with 80 bonus points and first in the standings.

Some considered it a fluke when he had a sway bar issue at Loudon last weekend and finished 34th, dropping to 8th in the points. It seemed probable that Busch would return to form this week at Dover, where he won in the spring.

But it was not to be. 141 laps into the 400 lap race, Busch's car started smoking; by lap 172, the engine failure was diagnosed as terminal. Busch is now 12th in points, 210 out of first.

What did happen at Dover was a second Chase win by Greg Biffle, who is now the first driver in the five-year history of the Chase to win the first two races back to back.

As I mentioned in my practice update, the Roush-Fenway cars looked stout in practice, and the end of the race came down to three of them - Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards - battling for the win.

Kenseth was the overall lap leader at Dover with 136 laps led, and Edwards was second with 85. Even Jamie McMurray led 35 laps, though he didn't have the finish to show for it.

Greg Biffle only led 29 laps, but he had the fastest car when it counted, muscling past teammate Kenseth in the closing laps. Though Edwards was in the mix, his crew chief's decision to take two tires on the final pit stop may have kept him from the win.

Finishing right behind the three Ford drivers were six Chevys - five of them Chasers: Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton. Johnson and Gordon each led laps, 81 and 30 respectively, but were not as strong as the Roush cars at the end. Michael Waltrip finished 10th in a Toyota.

A few other Chase contenders struggled at Dover, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. who blew a tire on lap 141 and finished 24th. Denny Hamlin had mechanical issues and finished 38 laps down at 38th. Tony Stewart was never a factor and never led a lap, but managed an 11th-place finish.

In terms of the Chase for the Championship, Edwards remains in first, though Johnson and Biffle are each just 10 points behind him now.

Following those three are the three Richard Childress Racing teammates, who all moved up in the standings after Dover - Jeff Burton up one spot to 4th, Kevin Harvick up five spots to 5th, and Clint Bowyer up three spots to 6th.

Tony Stewart held serve at 7th, while Jeff Gordon climbed three spots to 8th and Matt Kenseth moved up two to 10th.

The three big droppers this week were Dale Earnhardt Jr., down five spots to 9th, Denny Hamlin, also down five to 11th, and Kyle Busch, as mentioned, down four spots to 12th.

Kenseth, Hamlin and Busch are now more than a one-race points spread behind leader Edwards.

This week, the series heads to Kansas Speedway. The winner here last year in a rain-shortened race was … Greg Biffle.